Campbell era comes to an end at Tosa West

Senior star named MVP, Longo Most Improved

The Patrick Campbell era has come to an end for the Wauwatosa West boys cross country team.

Campbell was named the Trojans' Most Valuable Runner and he had a list of accomplishments a mile long to back it up.

He was the individual Woodland Conference champion the past two years and first-team all-conference.

He was a three-time state qualifier, finishing fourth this year and 12th last season.

"What more can I say about Patrick Campbell," coach Mike Vann said. "It's been a privilege to work with him. He has led his teammates to success. He's made me a better coach. He has done all the little things you need to do to go from good to great.

"He is going through the college recruiting process right now and whoever signs him will be very fortunate. He is only going to get better."

The Trojans' No. 2 runner was junior Taylor Floyd-Mews, who was a conference runner-up to Campbell and a first-team all-conference pick, as well as a state qualifier, finishing 11th this year after finishing 54th as a sophomore.

"Floyd-Mews will return as one of the top five runners in the state," Vann said. "We all look up to Taylor. He is a great leader."

The Most Improved runner was Dominic Longo, who improved his personal best by nearly two minutes over last season.

"Dominic was very consistent finishing as either our third or fourth runner throughout the season," Vann said.

Finally, the team captains were Campbell and Kevin Dettlaff.

Balanced lineup

The Trojans had 10 letter winners this year, including three seniors, a junior, five sophomore and a freshman.

Leading the way were Campbell, Dettlaff, Jack Bresnahan and Floyd-Mews. The underclassmen were Longo, Alec Kirtley (third-team all-conference), Ryan Lisser, Tony Kolafa, Brendon Michael and John Dettlaff.

"The program has made remarkable progress over the past four years," Vann said. "I was very happy to have 17 athletes run with the team this year and place a very respectable sixth at the JV conference meet. To place Varsity second in our conference and have Patrick and Taylor finish where they did at state was a tremendous success."

Crediting his seniors

Vann then tipped his cap to his three seniors, Campbell, Kevin Dettlaff and Bresnahan.

"These three have led and drawn others to the team," he said. "Patrick has brought a lot of attention to the program and shown us what needs to be done to reach fourth at state.

"Kevin ran a special race when we needed him to at conference and he always brought great energy to practice and meets.

"Jack showed us how important it is to be part of a team, that cross country is a sport for everyone and that determination goes a long way.

"We are going to really miss these three."

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